Giving birth to a brand driven company culture for solarisBank

Founded in 2015, solarisBank supports digital businesses by providing unique banking solutions, allowing these businesses to offer innovative financial services to their end customers – a concept that caught on fast. Within the first 12 months, the company expanded from a team of 10 to a workforce of 70, with more than 20 nationalities represented. Being new to the market, and with a constantly growing team, solarisBank asked Rlevance to set the right direction for their brand image right from the start, and to lay a solid foundation for a company culture that could withstand continuous growth.

We designed a lean process that suited the requirements of a fast-moving start-up and then guided solarisBank through it. First, by conducting a series of interviews with solarisBank’s management, we illuminated the company’s internal beliefs and strengths and its general approach to the market. Then, with another set of semi-structured interviews, we dove into the perspective of their B2B customers.

Based on these insights, we conducted a series of co-creative workshops with a cross-functional team to define the brand purpose and brand values. After completion of the brand strategy, for which we created an array of implementation ideas – ranging from internal culture to customer experience to communication – we set out to get all employees on board. We designed a workshop that gave employees the chance to interpret the brand’s central values and thus create a sturdy foundation for the company culture.

With our help solarisBank established a definite direction from at an early stage on. Ultimately, we were able to ignite a company culture that all employees can get behind – one that focuses on company values that derive from its own unique form of self-understanding.